For the Longest Time
by Billie Ariel
Summary: Stiles and Allison have been online friends for five years. When Allison announces that she'll visit Stiles for the holidays, they're both unaware of the story about to unfold. Without screens or the opportunity to rethink and edit what they want to say, they will both realize meeting face to face was easier said than done. What will this do to their friendship?
1. Chapter 1

**Based on a paulwes prompt (from Tumblr). I made some slight changes just to get the story going, but I'll remember to include everything else as the plot moves forward. This is my first proper Teen Wolf fic, so I'm sorry if the characters sound or act a bit OOC at times. Also, this is loosely based on a true story (*ahem*mine*ahem*), and I just hope you all like it!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Allison woke up to a text.

_S: Happy anniversary!_

She rubbed her eyes before replying.

_A: Stiles, it's five a.m_

_S: Because it's our five year anniversary!_

_S: Come on, I do this every year._

Allison smiled and shook her head.

_A: How do you expect me to remember that if you keep waking me up in the middle of the night?_

_S: Actually, I'm in bright daylight over here._

Allison closed her eyes for a second; the sound of another text made her jump.

_S: Ok, I'll let you go back to sleep now._

_A: Hang on._

_A: This is a big thing._

_A: We should celebrate._

_S: What do you have in mind?_

_A: Videochat at 5 today._

_S: We're really committing to the 5 theme, aren't we?_

_S: Wait, is it your 5 or my 5?_

Good point. Allison hadn't thought about the time difference.

_A: My five._

Allison smiled again. He would love what she had in mind.

_A: Don't be late!_

* * *

><p>Stiles tapped his fingers against the desk. Where was she?<p>

Allison had made him be early, said hi, and then she disappeared! Stiles had been staring at Allison's room for five minutes already.

"Are you ready?" It was Allison's voice, but still no Allison herself.

"Yes!" Stiles wasn't sure if she had heard him. Was she already there? Maybe his screen had frozen.

No, there she was. Allison walked into her room with the biggest grin Stiles had ever seen. Stiles had no choice but to also grin when he saw she was carrying a cake covered in white frosting.

"Hey, what's that there?" Stiles asked with excitement.

Allison set the cake on her own desk. She answered his question as she rearranged her computer so Stiles could see both her and the cake.

"It's a carrot cake. Made it all by myself!"

"You made us a cake?" Stiles was touched; he couldn't believe she had done something like that. Except it wasn't that hard to believe since he already knew Allison was pretty amazing in every aspect.

"That's not all," she announced; she pulled something out of a drawer and waved it to the camera: candles.

"Okay, now I'm seriously gonna cry."

Allison laughed. She was sitting; she carefully poked the cake with five candles and lit them up with a lighter.

"I told you, this is big. We couldn't not do something special."

Stiles chuckled, and then he slowly realized, "Five years of being friends."

"Five years since we both got that friend request from each other."

They stared at each other through the screen. It still seemed like yesterday when they first met online.

Allison was the first to snap out of her thoughts.

"Okay, are you ready?"

"We're gonna blow the candles?"

"We are!"

"Okay! On three."

Allison giggled. "One…"

"Two…"

"Three!" They said in unison.

Stiles leaned forward towards the camera before puffing his cheeks and letting the air out while Allison blew all the candles.

They both cracked up. They both knew that whole scene had been ridiculous, and that anyone watching from the outside would've thought they were insane, and yet they didn't care, because this was their life. This was the friendship they had shared for the last five years.

Both their faces were red, their eyes full of tears, when they finally stopped laughing. Allison looked to the side and shook her head, slightly embarrassed.

"What?" Stiles asked.

"I just realized…I got you a plate." Allison waved the paper plate in front of the camera. She laughed again.

"Aww, that's sweet. Thank you!"

"I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't even cut the cake at all."

"Whoa, wait; hang on. You are not gonna let your all your hard work go to waste."

"But it's gonna be weird if you're not eating anything."

Stiles thought about that for a second. "My dad brought cupcakes. I can eat one of those!"

"Before dinner?"

Stiles shrugged. "He'll understand." He stood up, but before leaving, he leaned in and said, "I'll be right back!"

Allison sliced the cake as she waited for Stiles to come back. Luckily, that didn't take too long; Stiles was back before she could miss him.

"Did you get it?" she asked.

"I did."

"Where is it?"

"You haven't given me the cake!"

Allison chuckled. "What?"

"Give me my slice, Allison!"

Allison cut another piece of cake, and then stretched her arm, as if Stiles could really reach for the plate. As the plate faded out of view, Stiles slowly lift up his hands, revealing the vanilla cupcake.

This made Allison laugh again.

"Thanks, Ally!"

"You even got one with the cream cheese icing!"

"It's like it was meant to be."

They both sat in silence as they each took a bite of their own bake goods.

"How's the cake?" Stiles asked with his mouth still full.

Allison swallowed her cake before answering, "You tell me."

"It's delicious! Best cake ever!"

"No, but seriously," Allison said, "This is really good!"

"Now you're gonna have to bake me something when we—" Stiles stopped himself before he finished that sentence, but it was too late.

"Do you think it's weird?" She asked.

"What? Oh…wait, my screen froze. Hang on." Stiles shook his computer screen lightly as he waited for it to buffer. "Wave your hand." Allison did so. "Okay, we're good. What's weird?"

"That we haven't met. Is it weird?"

"I don't know." Stiles shrugged. "I mean, we met when we were twelve…well, you were twelve going on thirteen, but you know…"

"Yeah," Allison nodded.

"And then you and your parents moved to France, and…here we are."

"Here we are," she muttered.

"Hey, don't be sad. This is a happy day, remember? I've been friends with you for longer than I have been with Scott. That's huge!"

Allison gave him a little smile as she nodded. "You're right. No, you're right. I'm happy. I'm glad I know you."

Stiles smiled back at her. "I'm glad too."

They talked for the rest of the day. Even at dinner/breakfast, when Allison brought her laptop to the table and set it in front of her and her parents, and when Stiles and his dad ate in Stiles' room. They had been doing that for years, and not once had they ever run out of things to say.

"Oh my God," Allison said all of a sudden, "Is it really three in the morning?"

"I don't know; it's nine o'clock over here," Stiles replied.

"Very funny. I have to go to sleep."

Stiles didn't want to say goodbye. And he knew Allison didn't want to either, but there was nothing either of them could do.

"Yeah, okay," he said.

"I'll talk to you after school, okay? I promise."

Stiles nodded. "Sleep tight."

"You too." Allison waved goodbye; Stiles did the same, and then they both shut down their computers.

Stiles looked around his room, trying to figure out what he'd do to make the rest of the night go by faster.

Allison sighed. Stiles' slice of cake was still next to her computer. She stared at it for about a minute, wondering if she could continue to do this. Eventually, she took the plate to the kitchen, returned the slice to where the rest of the cake was, and put it away in the fridge. She went back to her room determined to get some sleep before she had to wake up for school, but as soon as she lied down, all she could think about was Stiles.

* * *

><p>The next day, Stiles' phone buzzed. He was expecting it to be Scott, but when he saw it was a number he didn't recognize, he felt intrigued; worried even.<p>

"Hello?" He said into the phone.

"Stiles, it's me!"

"Allison? What happened? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, yes, yes. I just couldn't wait to tell you!"

She sounded very excited, which made Stiles feel excited as well, although he had no idea what it was all about.

"What? Tell me!"

He heard Allison squealing into the phone.

"I'm coming over!" She announced.

"_What?_" He repeated.

"I'm coming over to meet you for the holidays!"

Stiles' mind could barely process what she was saying; he almost didn't believe she was actually saying it.

"Are you there?" Allison asked, "You didn't faint, did you?"

"Yes, no—I mean, I'm here, I'm just…Wow."

"I know, right?"

"Wait, where are you calling from?"

Stiles was perfectly aware of how expensive international calls were, which was the main reason why Allison and Stiles could never call each other over the phone.

"I'm at school, actually."

"They let you do that?"

"Yeah, not exactly; I actually snuck in while the assistant's making a coffee run."

Stiles shook his head; she was impossible.

"When are you coming?"

"Well, today is the last day before the Christmas' break, so my dad booked me for the first flight tomorrow morning."

"Wow, that's soon," he muttered.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy about it; it was just that he wouldn't have much time to wrap his brain around the thought of finally meeting Allison after five years of texts and videochats.

"Oh, gotta go," said Allison, "But I guess I'll see you soon!"

"Yeah, absolutely! Bye."

Allison hung up so quickly Stiles barely noticed when she was gone. Stiles knew exactly who to call next.

"Scott? Sorry to wake you up, buddy."

"Dude, you're never gonna believe what just happened…remember Allison?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you so much to those who reviewed this story and added them to their alerts! Also thank you for just reading the story! I certainly hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it._

_Sidenote: I think I read somewhere that the fandom calls the Sheriff 'John'? I'll definitely be remembering that for next time, but for now I just stuck to Sheriff and Stilinski._

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

It was a rattling sound what woke Sheriff Stilinski up. He silently got up from bed, and went straight to the drawer where he kept his gun. He opened his bedroom door and left it ajar so he could listen more carefully. There was a lot of thumping and crashing. It could be someone in a hurry to empty the place out. He listened again. No, that kind of sound could only be made by two people.

Stilinski made his way downstairs, holding his gun tightly with both hands. Finally, he saw the source of all sound: It was Stiles.

Stiles was holding the Christmas tree with both arms, and one of his feet was propped against it. He turned around and saw his dad holding his weapon against him. Stiles freaked out; he moved so fast the tree fell down, causing a lot of the ornaments to break. It all made sense now to the Sheriff.

He sighed. "Stiles, what the hell are you doing?"

Stiles peeked his head from behind the couch. "Uh, do you think you could maybe put the gun down?"

Stilinski looked at his combat position. "Right," he muttered as he lowered his arms. He looked around the living room, or what it was _supposed_ to be the living room. Now it looked like Stiles had broken into the mall and emptied down the decoration aisle. There were Christmas lights everywhere, 'Merry Christmas' signs, decorated pillows on the couch; even the curtains had little snowmen in them, not to mention all the smashed ornaments that led him to think Stiles hadn't dropped the tree just once.

Stiles, holding another string of lights, followed his dad's stare.

"Do you think it's too much?"

* * *

><p>Allison couldn't open her bag of complementary peanuts. Her fingers kept fumbling and slipping. She tried to dry her hands on her jeans before giving it another chance, but it was useless. Finally, with a roll of her eyes, Lydia snatched the bag away from Allison.<p>

"Give me that." Lydia swiftly opened the peanuts and returned them to her friend.

"Thanks," Allison said, "I don't know what's wrong with me." She was a hunter; she could kill any animal that came near her without batting an eye; so why were her hands shaking and sweating all of a sudden? This wasn't her first time in an airplane, so it definitely wasn't a fear of flying. But what else could it be?

"Maybe that's your gut telling you something," Lydia said.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you really know about this Stiles?"

Allison shrugged. "Everything."

"No, you know everything that he has _told_ you, but what do you actually _know_ about him?"

Allison considered this. Then, it was her turn to roll her eyes and sigh.

"You're making me nervous," she muttered.

"Look at you. You already are nervous."

Allison looked down at her hands again. She pressed them together in an attempt to stop them from shaking.

"All I'm saying," Lydia spoke again, "Is that maybe deep down you know this is all a bad idea."

Allison shook her head. "No, I do want to do this. We've known each other for five years; if not now, then when?" She was completely convinced of this. "This is the right thing to do."

"Okay." Lydia turned her head to look out the window.

Allison wasn't able to hold it for much longer. "Say what you wanna say, come on."

"You don't want to hear it."

_This is going to be a long flight, _Allison thought.

* * *

><p>Sheriff Stilinski had made Stiles sit down with him on the couch.<p>

"This is about Allison, isn't it?" He asked. He took Stiles' silence as a yes. "Listen, I know this is all happening a little too fast; so it's understandable that you're nervous…scared, even."

"Lydia, I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

Lydia looked at Allison straight in the eye. Well, if she really wanted to know what was on Lydia's mind, then that's what she'd get.

"Dad, I'm fine. Seriously! It's just…" Stiles looked around the over-decorated room. "Do you think she'll like the decorations?"

Stilinski didn't how to answer that. At first he genuinely thought Stiles was talking about the decorations.

"Do you think she'll be okay with the way they are? 'Cause they can be tricky, you know? They may look like there's nothing wrong with them at the store but once you're close to them…"

Now that he understood what Stiles was trying to say, Stilinski smiled and wrapped an arm around his son's shoulder.

* * *

><p>"I don't trust your friend," Lydia said bluntly.<p>

"Why not? He's sweet, he's funny, he cares about me—"

"Yes, exactly my point! This guy sounds a little too good to be true, and if you get hurt—"

"I won't get hurt!"

Lydia knew that Allison wanted to believe blindly in everything that Stiles had told her, but Lydia knew men; she knew how they thought, and she knew the things they were capable to say or do just to string someone along into their trap.

"How can you be so sure?" Lydia asked.

* * *

><p>"Analogies aside," Stilinski said in a more serious tone, "I think it's about time we have a little chat."<p>

Oh, no. Stiles knew perfectly what kind of talk they were about to have by the way his father had his hands in between his knees.

* * *

><p>"You're being crazy," Allison muttered.<p>

"Oh, I'm being crazy. Me, the one that decided overnight it was time to hop in a plane and travel across the world just to meet a guy! No…wait, that's you."

Allison could see Lydia's point. She knew her friend was right, and maybe she _did _fear Stiles wouldn't be as good as she had thought he was, but she couldn't let that stop her. If she was going to find out the truth about Stiles, then it was better to do that sooner than later. She had to know.

* * *

><p>"Dad!" Stiles couldn't handle another second on that couch. He stood up, shaking his head; hoping he could shake away the images his father was putting inside.<p>

"All I'm saying is that I'm not ready to be a grandfather! Can you imagine me taking care of a tiny baby version of you? I'm not sure my heart's strong enough for that.

"Allison and I aren't even going to have sex!" There's a sentence Stiles never thought he'd be saying to his father.

"Look, I'm happy about Allison staying with us for two weeks; I really am, but that doesn't mean I don't know what's going on here."

_We're just friends, Dad!_ That's what Stiles wanted to tell his father. _There's nothing going on here!_ But Stiles knew that wasn't exactly true.

His father continued with the lecture.

"Just put on the damn condom, will you?"

That was all Stiles could handle. He screamed and turned around.

* * *

><p>"Look, I know you have the hots for this guy."<p>

"I don't," Allison refuted.

Lydia ignored this.

"But you have to be careful. You're going to be staying under the same roof as him, and who knows what kind of creepy stuff can happen while you're there."

Allison didn't want to hear or talk about it anymore.

"Can we please stop talking about this?"

But Lydia wasn't giving up that easily.

"Promise me you'll be careful."

Allison wasn't even looking at her; her head was turned in the opposite direction.

"Allison!"

* * *

><p>"Stiles!"<p>

"No, I am done talking to you," Stiles said as he walked out of the room.

Stilinski stood up and followed Stiles.

"I'm supposed to drive you to the airport!"

"You really think I wanna be stuck in a car with you for an hour after that conversation?"

* * *

><p>"Fine, I promise!" Allison looked around; their heated argument was turning a couple of heads around. "I promise," she said more quietly, "But can we please just stop talking about it?"<p>

Lydia shrugged. "I said all I had to say already."

"Good." Allison leaned back on her seat and closed her eyes, ready to put their little safety conversation at the back of her mind.

Lydia lied; there was so much more to be said.

"I give you two a week before you're jumping each other's bones," she said casually.

Allison sighed and opened up her eyes. She was not going to get a break.

* * *

><p>"I get that it was part of the deal that you came," said Stiles, "But did we have to come in the police car?"<p>

Sheriff Stilinski shrugged. "What's wrong with it?"

"Well, for one I don't think Allison will be very comfortable in the back."

"She'll be fine."

"You can't even open the windows; she's gonna feel like a prisoner!"

Sitting on the back, Scott leaned forward so Stiles would hear him.

"Don't worry, Stiles; I can help distract her over here."

"I should've brought the Jeep," Stiles whispered.

* * *

><p>Allison jumped. "What's going on?"<p>

"We're landing," Lydia said calmly.

"Oh…right."

"Are you okay?" Lydia noticed that Allison's hands were shaking again and that she was taking several short breaths.

"What? No-I mean yes!" She tugged on her shirt several times. "Is it hot in here?"

Lydia took one of Allison's hands and squeezed it lightly. Allison relaxed visibly at the touch. The two friends smiled at each other; one of them was saying 'thank you', while the other one said, 'I'm here for you'.

* * *

><p>Scott, Stiles, and his father were at the airport waiting for Allison to arrive. Stiles was the only one who couldn't stop bouncing in place.<p>

"Oh my God. Oh my God," Stiles kept repeating.

"Stiles, are you alright?" Scott asked.

Stiles shook his head several times. "I didn't bring a sign."

"What?" His dad asked.

"A sign! A sign with Allison's name; I forgot to bring one!" Stiles was already tugging at Scott's collar shirt and yelling quite loudly. The sheriff had to intervene.

"Calm down." He took Stiles by the shoulder and gently made him walk away a few steps from Scott, who was already fixing his shirt. "I'm sure Allison's not going to mind."

"This is a disaster," Stiles said.

"Hey, look at me. Look at me." He waited until Stiles actually looked at him to continue talking. "It's going to be fine. Allison is going to like you, and you and I will make sure she has a great time here, okay?"

Stiles did find his father's words to be reassuring. He nodded. They stood in silence for a moment as Stiles took one deep breath after another. Now that his mind was slightly clearer, he did have a bone to pick with his dad.

"Did you mean what you said about taking care of a tiny baby version of me?"

His dad thought it was a strange moment to bring that up, but if it would help his son relax for five minutes, then he would play along.

"Yeah, of course I did."

"But you did take care of a tiny baby version of me. I mean, you raised me."

Stilinski brought his son closer to him with his arm.

"I know."

Just before Stiles could argue with his dad, Scott brought something to their attention.

"Hey, Stiles, isn't that Allison?"

* * *

><p>Lydia was comforting Allison in any way she could. Whether it was by telling her that it would all be okay, or taking her hand, or linking their arms together, Lydia was there for her. They walked off the plane together, into the terminal, and through Baggage Claim. The place was crowded; Allison kept looking for his face, that cute little smile, but she couldn't find him. All the faces around were meshed together into one giant blur. Lydia's voice brought her back to reality.<p>

"Buzz cut, goofy smile; I think I found your guy!"

Allison followed Lydia's finger, pointing at him.

Yes, it was Stiles.

* * *

><p>There she was; loose brown hair, big sultry eyes…and that smile that brightened up his whole day.<p>

Allison.

* * *

><p>Every doubt, every ounce of fear they had both been feeling had vanished. The room wasn't crowded anymore; in fact there was no room anymore. It was just them; Allison and Stiles in their own little world. They stopped listening to those who were with them. They just started walking towards each other. Slow at first, but their pace quickened little by little, until they were both running.<p>

They didn't stop until they were around each other's arms; until they felt safe.


End file.
